The present invention relates generally to vehicles for the handling of material or articles, which are self-loading or unloading and includes successive handling means, and, more particularly, to a tailgate control system for a round bale wagon that maintains bales on the wagon until the load bed has been adequately rotated to impart sufficient energy to the bales and permit them to be easily unloaded off the load bed.
The evolution of the hay industry in recent years indicates a diversification in baling, storing and transporting the hay with a strong trend toward using larger bales. Large round bales, varying in weight from about 800 pounds to about 1600 pounds and varying in diameter from about four feet up to about eight feet, are rapidly replacing the relatively smaller conventional square bales.
Due to the large size of the round bales, there is a need for equipment which can pick up the bales in the field, accumulate a load of bales, and transport them to a remote storage area where the accumulated bales can be unloaded. Also, such equipment must be flexible in the ability to deal with bales ranging in diameter from the aforesaid four to eight feet. Furthermore, it is important that the bale handling equipment be able to arrange and control the position of bales on the transporter bed after the bales have been picked up. Transporting larger loads of bales reduces fuel usage and the time required for bale handling.
Currently known round bale handling equipment is limited in being able to successfully pick up, accumulate, transport and unload large loads of round bales, e.g., eight to ten bales, and cope with the varying bale size. Some equipment is available for handling large loads of bales but this equipment is tractor drawn and is thus limited by tractor speed and reduced maneuverability. Other equipment available is self-propelled, such as a pickup truck attachment for handling large round bales. While this other equipment avoids the speed and maneuverability limitations of tractor drawn equipment, it sacrifices the economic advantages associated with transporting a large number of bales.
The unloading of bales from the load bed of the bale wagon can be effected by pivotally rotating the load bed relative to the main frame, thereby raising the forward end of the load bed above the frame, to permit the round bales to roll or slide off the rearward end of the load bed. To impart sufficient energy to the bales on the load bed so that they will be easily discharged off the rearward end of the load bed, it would be desirable to provide a mechanism, such as a tailgate, and a control system therefor that would prevent the bales from moving off the load bed until the forward end has been raised a sufficient distance off the main frame.